Horse Racing in America: A Spectacle of Liars, Dopers and Cheaters – Part 1An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM

Orb ridden by Joel Rosario comes down the final stretch on his way to
winning the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4,
2013 in Louisville, Kentucky.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Twenty horses, dirt flying around the first turn at Churchill Downs and
the sound of hooves thundering down the stretch toward the finish line in
pursuit of the first jewel in the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby.

Steeped in tradition, the first Saturday in May brings with it fancy and
outrageous hats and frosty mint juleps served over crushed ice in souvenir
Derby glasses while fans belt out “My Old Kentucky Home” as the young
Thoroughbreds step onto the track.

Beneath the Twin Spires, top-notch trainers and horses in the North
American Thoroughbred racing industry convene to vie for the coveted garland
of roses and gold Derby trophy – the “most exciting two minutes in sports”
they say. But behind all the pomp and circumstance lies an ugly truth mired
in a sordid drug culture that permeates the very core of the industry.

Most will acknowledge that despite the questionable reputation of PETA,
the explosive article in the New York Times penned by Joe Drape shook the
foundation of North American racing.

“The story in question, “PETA Accuses Two Trainers of Cruelty,” came on
like a thunderclap and is profound for many reasons. First, the video upon
which it is based allows people to see for themselves a little* of what
animal activists have long alleged at the highest level of thoroughbred
racing. The focus is on trainer Steve Asmussen, a controversial conditioner,
and his top assistant trainer, Scott Blasi.** The images are of the
treatment of world-class horses training at two of the most revered and
distinguished tracks in America—Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and
the Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York.” [1]

While some dismiss the video as activist propaganda, it unquestionably
probes into the underbelly of the backstretch to reveal what everyone
already knew – so-called secrets guarded by those in the industry with a
pretext akin to the Hippocratic Oath upheld by physicians and health care
professionals across the globe.

Perhaps the rush for measures of reform in the wake of this most
uncomfortable exposé of racing indignities in the name of horse welfare will
force the industry to re-think its business model – an opportunity to
recapture what was once referred to as the “Sport of Kings”. No doubt the
public is deserving as are those in the industry with a conscience but
loathe to compromise their livelihood, lest they lose it.

I am not holding my breath. This purported reform has been in the works
for years without consolidated movement within the machinations of this
fragmented miasma called North American horse racing. It is without
direction and at the discretion of those who want it to remain deceitful
with the bogus façade of responsible governance simply to serve their egos
and lust for monetary needs.

As it is, it is a free-for-all for those at the top – more precisely, the
celebrated trainers – millionaires who have no misgivings about putting the
horse at risk – reckless abandon so to say. Unwarranted medications,
manipulation of the entry box (yes Mr. Baffert we know all about it),
grossly overpaid veterinarians attesting to the integrity of the sport
spewing both lies and unbalanced science yet accepted as fact. Why? Because
the industry has no governing body and fails to hold itself accountable.

In the scurry following the PETA video there has been a plethora of horse
racing organizations jumping on the bandwagon and demanding tighter control
over medications leading up to and on race day – all sorts of articles
proclaiming that it must be done.

Alex Waldrop, president and chief executive officer of the National
Thoroughbred Racing Association and chairman of the Racing Medication
and Testing Consortium demanding the implementation of uniform drug
rules across the nation.

Breeders’ Cup president Craig Fravel, in comments made on the first
day of the Association of Racing Commissioners International’s three-day
conference in Lexington, also encouraging racing regulators and other
industry officials that they should use existing tools to push states to
adopt the National Uniform Medication Program.

Ed Martin, president of the Association of Racing Commissioners
International (RCI), horse racing’s umbrella regulatory group, accusing
the sport of “self-flagellation” and participants’ refusal to take
responsibility for their actions—or lack thereof.

The Jockey Club’s stance on supporting federal legislation to put the United
States Anti-Doping Agency in charge of bringing law and order to the sport
known for its pervasive drug culture and ineffectual ability to implement
across the board drug regulations despite having come up with a national
uniform medication program – only 4 of the 38 states with racing have fully
executed this agenda.

The list goes on, but what if anything will actually be done about it? Will
this PETA incident simply be swept under the table as time goes on?
Forgotten and filed away as insignificant misdemeanors just like all the
other racing wrongs in the past?

One announcement in particular caught my eye especially given the
impending Triple Crown. Coming from The Jockey Club and backed by a number
of prominent Thoroughbred owners and trainers a movement akin to what was
once taboo in the shedrows of the racing word – public veterinary records.

Gasp!

“A large and growing number of prominent Thoroughbred owners and trainers
have voluntarily pledged to make veterinary records of their horses
competing in graded stakes races in the United States and Canada available
to the public, The Jockey Club announced April 17.

Such records will cover the 14-day period preceding and including the day
of each race and will be available on the day of the race at least two hours
prior to post time. The pledges take effect immediately.” [2]

Wonderful news indeed – finally a modicum of transparency in an otherwise
“cloak and dagger” enterprise replete with lies and deception and renowned
for punishing those who speak out about the truth.

Or is it?

First of all, it’s voluntary. Secondly, a closer look at the roster of
owners and trainers in agreement with this progressive, yet implausible,
initiative reveals an expected trend.

As much as owners should be held accountable for the administration of
drugs prescribed by trainers and their steadfast veterinarians this is
rarely the case. Trainers run the barns and dictate the needs of their
horses to their subservient veterinarians – servile perhaps but not without
underlying reason, after all money talks. Moreover several of the owners on
the list employ trainers who aren’t on the list – so how does that work? For
example Winstar Farm has agreed to transparency yet Todd Pletcher who is the
trainer for Derby hopeful Vinceremos hasn’t.

Consequently the move is purely altruistic and serves itself up as false
hope – meaningless propaganda. Clearly the trainers that have opted to
disclose their medication records are all the “good guys” – those who garner
respect and have ethics when it comes to both racing and the horse. Sadly
trainers that should be there simply aren’t.

So who are these trainers missing from this brave new world, one that is
long overdue in Thoroughbred racing? There is no need to look further than
the top-ranked trainers in the U.S. – those who dominate the country’s most
important races, also known to manipulate the system and literally “get away
with murder” simply because they can.

How you may ask?

It is the lack of oversight in a crippled and corrupt system with cronies
at the top making decisions based on their debauched relationships with
those who hold power and prestige within the Thoroughbred racing world. Lord
knows what goes on behind closed doors but it has been said many a time that
there is nothing above-board about it.

Recently the 2014 American Graded Stakes Standings were published in a
Paulick Report Article including the top five ranking trainers in North
America. [4]

Not a single graded stakes trainer in the top five in the industry is
willing to bare it all. And for good reason – they all cheat.

In fact a look at the top 20 trainers for 2014, in terms of winnings,
shows only three trainers on the list that have agreed to public veterinary
records – Graham Motion, Bill Mott and D. Wayne Lukas. [5] How on earth can
anyone have faith in an industry when the best-of-the-best fail to
participate in something that stands for integrity and moral substance?

There is only one answer – they have something to hide.

After all, 14 days before a race is a long time to stay clean rather than
pumping your horses full of poison to keep them on their feet and moving.

Of the three in the top twenty in agreement with publicizing records one
in particular is predictable – Graham Motion, who brings with him an
unblemished record without a single medication violation. Bill Mott has a
strong reputation and despite being cited for medication violations none
have been for performance-enhancing drugs with no therapeutic value – in
effect, simple overages and not deliberate attempts to influence the results
of the race.

D. Wayne Lukas is a surprise given his checkered past – the era of the
Class 1 cocaine violation, buzzer mania and other serious infractions.
Perhaps implications on the PETA video may have him looking to disinfect his
reputation or more likely the fact that Lukas is also a commissioner on the
Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which is investigating PETA’s allegations.

With the running of the Kentucky Derby this Saturday, the pinnacle of
North America’s prestigious Graded Stakes, let’s have a have a quick look at
the Derby contenders in relation to those who chose to participate in
transparency. The list of the 23 horses eligible to race in the Derby as of
April 29th including trainers and recent scratches and
be found here.

Mind you, only 20 will end up racing but the 23 contenders are there lest
any horse is scratched due to injury or whatever reason. Since this time the
entries and post positions have been confirmed. [6]

It is definitely a sad day when only three trainers on the list of
Kentucky Derby hopefuls have agreed to disclose veterinarian records to the
public (Graham Motion, Dallas Stewart and Shug McGaughey III), and even more
so when two of their horses have been scratched (Motion and McGaughey). Only
a single horse with a principled trainer will be running in the crown jewel
of North America’s most revered horse race.

Pitiful.

Now let’s look at the top five graded stakes trainers, none of whom
support public drug records. All but one (Hollendorfer) have horses as Derby
contenders and in a very disproportionate number. Scratched horses are
included in the tally to better illustrate how some trainers dominate and
are virtually guaranteed a position at the gate.

A whopping 35% of would-be entrants are represented by four trainers, not
one willing to lay bare their drug records. OK, fair enough – there is
nothing atypical of Asmussen and Sadler having a single entrant given they
are in the top five trainer rankings but the number of entrants connected to
Pletcher and Baffert is contemptible – 29% of the horses split between two
trainers.

Talk about domination – and these aren’t the only horses these
individuals had running for the roses.

In contrast to morally responsible trainers each of the top five graded
stakes trainers has been involved in questionable practices to the detriment
of the horse. It is not simply unintentional overages that any of these
trainers have been cited for – it is deliberate use of performance enhancing
medications – both illegal and therapeutic – devious exploitation evolving
from greed and ego.

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